title: Pediatric multiple sclerosis: analysis of clinical and epidemiological aspects according to National MS Society Consensus 2007.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of child/adolescence multiple sclerosis (MS).
  
  
  METHODS
  According to a descriptive, cohort study, with comparison of groups, data of 31 cases of child/adolescent MS, diagnosed at State Reference Center for Demyelinating Diseases-Hospital da Restauração, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, from 1987 to July 2007, were analyzed. The variables were: sex, initial symptoms, time for diagnosis, time of disease onset (early childhood, later childhood and adolescence), time of follow-up, number of relapses, relapses index and disability. Using SPSS software, version 13.0, t Student and Mann-Whitney tests were performed, with significance level of 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 3 (9.7%) cases of early childhood MS, 9 (29%), of late childhood MS, and 19 (61.3%), of adolescence MS. The general sex rate female: male was 1.8:1, varying according to age of onset. The predominant deficits were motor (12; 38.7%) and brainstem/cerebellum (7; 22.5%) especially on subsequent relapses of relapsing/remitting form. Time for diagnosis and average relapses index were higher in early childhood than in adolescence class (p=0.049 and p=0.028, respectively). Disability was higher for primary and secondary MS, as well as for early childhood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early childhood MS presents proper and different characteristics from adults, consisting in a difficult diagnosis that demands aid of expert neurologist on MS.
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Centre for Attention to Patients with Demyelinating Diseases, Hospital da Restauração, Recife, PE, Brazil. lucabrito@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Maria Lúcia Brito
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Maria Iris Morais
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Maria José Guedes
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Dantas
authors.forename: Alvaro José Porto
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: Adélia Maria de Miranda Henriques
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Souza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence